TONGUE-TIED TIMELESSNESS
Describing simplicity ain't simple. Figuring out why one band with a simple approach makes it while others don't is even less so. But figuring is a brain process, and in regard to the basics of guitar-bass-drumsvoice, it's usually better to just trust your ears.
TONGUE-TIED TIMELESSNESS
R.E.M.
Reckoning
(IRS)
Michael Davis
Describing simplicity ain't simple. Figuring out why one band with a simple approach makes it while others don't is even less so. But figuring is a brain process, and in regard to the basics of guitar-bass-drumsvoice, it's usually better to just trust your ears.
And lots of listeners are trusting their ears to R.E.M. these days, even though they don't sound anything like the brightly-colored butterflies being pinned down in most people's collections. Nope, these guys don't even like to pin themselves down, resisting attempts at categorizing at every turn. Oh sure, there are those who could tell you that R.E.M. approximates what the Byrds would have sounded like had Roger McGuinn split and Gene Clark stayed instead of vice versa, and though there's some validity there, what we're basically talking about here is a ringing quality to the guitars, a rough-gruff sensitivity to the singing, and a sense of timelessness about the music as a whole.